


But an Earlier Heaven

by rosykookies



Series: And the Sun Will Rise [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death Fix, Domestic, F/M, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Gen, Happy Ending, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Canon Compliant, Not biologically but still, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark are Siblings (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Self-Indulgent, There no plot its just fluff where Peter meets Morgan and they're a happy family, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:14:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23627533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosykookies/pseuds/rosykookies
Summary: After lunch on Sunday, as Morgan sprints onto the lawn and Peter and Tony follow her leisurely, walking side-by-side, Tony notices Peter’s gentle smile and fond eyes as he watches her, and he knows she’ll always be safe. Peter loves Morgan, and Tony knows Morgan loves Peter, too.Peter and his found family, as told through Tony's eyes.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: And the Sun Will Rise [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601863
Comments: 4
Kudos: 176





	But an Earlier Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally gonna leave this series at three parts, but I legit couldn't help myself so I banged this out in like half an hour because I have nothing better to do and because this series needed some Irondad before closing out. Also, the title is part of a quote from George Bernard Shaw—the whole quote is, "A happy family is but an earlier heaven." I just thought it was wholesome and I vibed with it. Hope y'all like :)
> 
> Un-beta'd.
> 
> Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended; all characters belong to the original creators.

After Steve returns the Stones, Bruce goes back to where he was living these past few years, and Tony puts Steve and Bucky up in a nice apartment in Brooklyn. Sam goes to find his mother somewhere in D.C. with the promise that he’ll come back soon. Natasha takes off, too, but she doesn’t tell Tony where she’s headed, only that she needs to check on some people. He has a feeling she means Barton and his family, or maybe some people back in Russia, but she doesn’t elaborate, only tells him to contact her when the Avengers compound is rebuilt. (Which will be soon—Tony has poured a considerable amount of money into expediting the clean-up and reconstruction.)

The weekend after they all leave, Tony invites Peter up to his cabin. He hasn’t been able to see him in the week since he’s been brought back to life; repairing the time machine so that Steve could return the Stones was a task that demanded enough of his time that he’s barely been able to see his daughter and wife until now. He figured that sending Peter home to May (albeit to someone else’s home, as Peter informed him by text, which Tony quickly rectified by booking them a hotel room) was better than leaving him with Bucky and Sam all week.

But now, everything is finished. Thanos is nothing but dust, his friends and family and the billion—maybe trillions—of beings lost five years ago have come back, and the Stones are back where they should be. So he calls Peter and tells him to pack a suitcase for the weekend and has Happy drive him up from Queens Friday evening.

Happy drops Peter off with all of his trademark grumpiness, but Tony (and maybe even Peter) can tell that Happy is really glad to see him. Peter, for all his superpowers, clumsily tumbles out of the car, already grinning. Tony catches him by the elbows and pulls him into a hug. The kid’s taller than he remembers but his face fits comfortably where Tony’s neck meets his shoulder, and his shampoo is so familiar that it brings back an onslaught of memories that Tony hasn’t thought about in years. Tony’s fingers travel to the nape of Peter’s neck, and he presses his nose into Peter’s soft curls and _breathes_.

He risked everything for this kid. And he’d do it again in a heartbeat, without a second thought.

When the hug is over, it’s still too so today is the first day of making up for lost time. Peter’s missed a lot of milestones: graduating, getting a license, first car, first drink (though who knows about that last one, but he doesn’t strike Tony as the type to go about underage drinking, even if his enhanced metabolism would prevent him from getting too drunk). But most importantly, Peter should’ve been there when Morgan was born, and he should’ve been there for her first four years of growing up.

“Let’s head inside,” Tony tells him.

“Okay,” Peter replies, and makes for his suitcase but Happy snatches it up wordlessly and takes it inside. So Tony lays a guiding hand across Peter’s shoulders and nudges him towards the stairs to his porch, and Peter’s grin softens into a soft smile as he allows himself to be led.

When they get inside, Happy’s back is turned to them, and he is evidently struggling to pry Morgan’s chubby hands from the fabric of his suit.

“Morguna,” Tony calls, and her head peers around Happy’s body. “Come meet Peter.”

“From the picture?” she asks hesitantly. “And the stories?”

Tony nods, eyes twinkling. Morgan releases Happy’s suit jacket and launches herself at Peter in a flurry of mussed hair and wild limbs. Peter stumbles back with the force of her hug but he drops to his and gathers her up anyways, pressing his smile into her messy locks. “You must be Morgan,” he murmurs. “Nice to meet you.”

Morgan pulls back. “Nice to meet you,” she echoes.

At that moment, Pepper pokes her head into the room. “Dinner’s almost ready,” she informs them. Her eyes fall on Peter and she beams at him. “Hi, Peter.”

“Hi, Mrs. Potts,” Peter says, then blushes. “I mean Stark. I mean—”

Pepper grins fondly, eyes flicking up to meet Tony’s as if to say _I forgot how sweet he was_. Instead of putting Peter out of his misery, she ducks out of the room, leaving Peter with his mouth agape and his cheeks aflame. Peter stands up and twists around to say something to Tony, but Morgan grabs at Peter’s hand and begins tugging him towards the dining room.

Tony watches them as they go, unable to tame his grin, and follows.

* * *

Pepper adores Peter. Tony can tell from the way she gently prods him about how life has been since coming back, can see it in the way she lovingly loads more food onto his plate, recalling his enhanced metabolism, and he can hear it in her voice when she tells him that she missed him and that he’d better visit soon and bring May along next time.

Morgan loves Peter, too. Tony’s raised her on stories of Spider-Man’s brave and heroic exploits, but he’s also told her stories about sweet, dumb Peter Parker, who panicked about quizzes and then aced them, who had a stronger moral compass than anyone he knew, whose photograph was framed in the kitchen (and a ton more were tucked away in a photo album) and who would’ve been the best big brother to her if he’d gotten the chance.

(Morgan had been asleep when Tony had come home from the battle, but the following day, before setting off the start work on the time machine, he’d told her that her big brother had helped him saved the world. She was just excited that she’d finally get to meet him.)

Over the course of the weekend, Tony begins to see that Peter would steal the stars from the very sky for Morgan. He has a great amount of difficulty telling her no (something that Tony will have to teach him to do, but for now, it’s innocuous enough), and he has very little resistance to her puppy-dog eyes (something Tony is only now becoming immune to, though Pepper is practically unaffected altogether). He keeps her smiling and happy with stories and games and toys, and carries her around on his back like she weighs next to nothing.

After lunch on Sunday, as Morgan sprints onto the lawn and Peter and Tony follow her leisurely, walking side-by-side, Tony notices Peter’s gentle smile and fond eyes as he watches her, and he knows she’ll always be safe. Peter loves Morgan, and Tony knows Morgan loves Peter, too.

Sunday night, as Happy loads Peter’s suitcase into the car and after Peter hugs Pepper and Morgan goodbye, Tony pulls him aside. Quietly, looking into Peter’s eyes, he says, “I want you to know that you’re the reason everyone came back.” Peter opens his mouth so Tony pushes on before he can be interrupted. “I didn’t want to risk it before. Because of Morgan and Pepper. But I saw your framed picture in the kitchen and...I had to try.”

Peter’s eyes are wide and stunned and suspiciously shiny, and his lips are slightly parted but nothing is coming out. Tony takes pity on him.

“Text me when you get home, kid. And come back soon, will you?”

Peter nods frantically, blinking fast. Tony pulls him into a hug. He hears Peter sniff into his shoulder, but when he steps back, Peter’s eyes are clear and dry. “Will do, Mr. Stark,” he chirps as if nothing happened. (Tony will have to see about getting him to quit calling him that.)

And then Peter turns and gets into the backseat of Happy’s car, waving out the window as the car pulls out of the driveway.

* * *

Peter comes back the weekend after with May (she and Pepper get on like a house fire), and the weekend after that he comes alone again, and he stays for a week or two at some point after that. He falls asleep on the couch, once, and Tony has to carry him to his room—it’s a guest room, but it’s got enough of Peter in it that they just decide to call it Peter’s room. Peter half wakes up as Tony’s tucking him in and eyes him groggily, muttering, “Night, Dad,” before turning over and falling asleep again. It’s one of Tony’s most treasured memories. (He knows that one of Pepper’s favourites is when Peter absently called her “Mom” when she gave him sliced fruit while he was in the middle of math homework.)

Tony loves Peter. He knows Peter loves him back.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so that's the end of the series! It was really cathartic to write, to be honest. Even almost a year later, I'm still mad at this movie and I needed this to get closure. Please let me know what y'all thought! Love you all :)
> 
> Pls come talk to me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/halcyonparker) I'm bored asf rn


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